Some History – Some Preaching
Since the first appearance of Universities nearly a thousand years ago, the day-to-day business of classroom instruction has centered on the spoken lecture. As important as lectures may be, surprisingly little has been written about their place, function, and effectiveness, and even less about taking good lecture notes. No matter how old fashioned or effective, lectures are the instructional backbone of the modern university. This is not to say there are no ineffective lecturers or that all students benefit from the format. But lectures have survived for good reason. They provide an efficient and flexible way to communicate information and knowledge in a direct, interactive forum. It is difficult to imagine anything more simple or natural or ruthlessly cheap and efficient. So it is not likely lectures will go away. Beginning to end, taking good lecture notes is not only a time-honored tradition, it is a critical skill that extends well-beyond the shadow of the Ivory Tower.
Past – Present – Future –
If we consider the technologies of intellectual transfer over the last several millennia they are easily placed in two categories, spoken and written. The unfolding of the spoken and written word contain some interesting ironies. Both forms have reproduced themselves. Once limited by the strength of a human voice, the spoken word has been amplified by electronic devices, extended by radio, multiplied by recording technologies, and linked to film, video, and a variety of computer technologies. The written word has also evolved. From clay, papyrus, vellum, and paper markings the written word was transformed five centuries ago into the printed word. Only in this century has handset type shifted to fully mechanized reproduction, and now, in the span of a generation, the word has undergone electric duplication, electronic reproduction, and ever more dramatic computer simulations. Things have changed.
The most important change is the pace of change. But while reproductions of voice, word, and image continue to expand, quicken, and transform communication, some things remain the same. Ironically, perhaps, the very oldest forms of communication have proven the most persistent. A moment of thought suggests that technological innovation has done little to displace the central role of human speech and the ever so humble manuscript word. People still speak face to face, they still write with hand-held instruments. The marvels of technology have yet to duplicate such simplicity. But generally, the fact is, most historical forms of communication have not been displaced by newer innovations. Instead, they have tended to retain a certain niche alongside newer forms, they coexist without competing. The profound simplicity of speaking and handwriting suggests a continued presence. Neither New Technology nor Sun Death should deter students from learning to listen to lectures and take good notes.
Some Dead Guys –
It is often said that Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were good teachers. As far as we know, all three depended heavily on the spoken word in their educational efforts. Socrates, by tradition, used the dialogue to exchange ideas in the market place; Plato was famous for his small forum (by tradition, with an ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ circle); Aristotle (the peripatetic) walked and talked as he strolled the Lyceum. So far as we know, Socrates wrote nothing, at least we have nothing he wrote and nothing is attributed to him. What we have of Socrates’ thought and words comes largely from what Plato wrote about him. What we have of Plato, we are told, is what he intended for a wider audience, since he refused to write down his most important doctrines. So far as we know, what we have from Aristotle are not his written words but lecture notes taken down by his students. What does this suggest? For present purposes, if nothing else, what someone thought and said is problematic.
The lecture (as we might recognize it) was a medieval invention. By the 11th century it was the centerpiece of the curriculum and the backbone of day-to-day instruction. Lectures took two forms, the Ordinary Lecture (where the Professor traditionally poured forth) and the Extraordinary (a less formal exchange with question and answer directed by the equivalent of a TA). But while modern universities have undergone dramatic change over the centuries, the lecture has changed little. What has changed? The defining character of the modern uni-versity is the emergence of the multi-versity. The transformation is far from complete and it continues to work on several levels. Just as disciplines have proliferated and blurred traditional boundaries so has the university population. Here lines of access by class, gender, and race have shifted. No longer restricted to a social elite or to males or to those of European descent, the University has demonstrated its ability to change its stripe — indeed, its size, shape, and color. The lecture, for all that, has retained its essential form.
What has changed is the size of the lecture audience, and hence, half the equation. The University Lecture has responded to changes in the student body. Shortly after WWII Universities mushroomed, lecture buildings swelled, and lectures grew more crowded. The once cozy class of 30 students common in medieval times stretched to the hundreds. As we approach the millennium, lecture halls around the world– in London, Paris, New York, and Gainesville– commonly hold 200-600 students, sometimes more.
But if lecture halls are larger they also contain new technologies. Media have expanded the canvas of word and image beyond the blackboard frame, beyond anything the overhead operator might ever have projected. In a single generation we have all but forgotten strips (what’s a filmstrip?) slides, moving picture films, and opaque projectors. In their place we have digitized sights, sounds, and signs. The results are apparent. There are now fewer words and even fewer objects. The time-honored distinction between words and things has been resolved in a world where words and images are virtually (essentially?) identical. Consider, gentle reader, what you now see. Consider carefully, and then again. Aye, there’s the rub. Nothing has really changed. The game is the same, if game it be.
More Preaching –
What ever realities may be out there, how you deal with a lecture is central to you and your education. A number of realities immediately inflict themselves on your experience. Not least, lectures take place in real time in a real place. Around the world thousands of professors still pour forth on a given day at an agreed time in a particular room in the presence of some 50 souls. The problem of representing the experience is equally real. It has a long history with time-honored traditions that trace out patterns of denial, avoidance, and self-delusion. I want to mention a few.
One way to avoid the lecture experience is to purchase ‘canned’ lecture notes. This option goes back to medieval times. In Paris during the 12th century students could purchase not only cribbed lecture notes, they could also buy a canned ‘cheat sheet’ of ‘sweet nothings’ (in proper Latin) to whisper while making love. It is not clear if these purchases resulted in a better student or a better lover. In either case, it is likely someone was had. A plus, I suppose, is that consumers save time in conquering the superficial. This doesn’t take an Einstein.
Make no mistake, life is short and Universities take a longer view. The original vision was rooted in contemplation and self-understanding. Stemming from a different time, the ‘Monastic Model’ recommended a path that moved from training, skills, and information to knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, in a word, to education. Over the last few centuries things changed. For some time now the ‘Manufacture Model’ (Consumerism: cost effectiveness; accountability) has played a larger role staging the educational experience. The effects on University life are clear. But take heart. A superb education can still be had. The best laid plan is personal effort. Begin here and you might get lucky.
One way to increase your chances is to attend lecture. The whole point of the lecture model is ‘Being There.’ The point is to use the experience to think through things in the presence of others doing the same thing. Skillfully achieved, a lecture is a direct interactive event. To be sure, it is not a rock concert. But it is live. Some lectures are soulful, some boring, some devastating, some poorly performed, some verge on ecstasy. But you have to prepare yourself to make the best of it, you have to be there, you have to listen in order to hear.
Your ears are important but the critical element lies somewhere between. Learning to connect what you hear and how you think is a lot like music appreciation. Prepare yourself, then let the notes haunt. It is not enough to listen carefully. You must think about what you have heard, analyze its parts, relate it to your experience, consider alternatives, evaluate its significance. You must learn to identify what you like and explain why. With time you can expand your range. Intellectual concerns follow a similar route, and not surprisingly, all paths lead to the same place. It is you center-stage, live –one shot– no rehearsal. So you need to practice. To be sure, you can pay for private lessons and buy superior instruments. But intellectual skill cannot be bought any more than autonomy can be granted. You are sole proprietor in the ongoing business of your education.
But all this sounds preachy and impractical. So let’s move on. What about lecture notes? Good news. You may happy to know that much of what follows is already familiar. Learning how to take good lecture notes overlaps with skills you already use every day, that is, reading and writing. The purpose of what follows is to identify these skills and to discuss how they can be sharpened. It is a practical guide to taking good lecture notes.
First, Size Things Up –
The first step in taking good lecture notes is to recall that everything has a context. If you want to take good notes your first job is to identify the purpose and the objectives of the course by studying the syllabus and evaluating the required readings. How does the structure of the material (over space, time, theme, method) reflect these basic goals? Paying attention to the syllabus, lecture structure, and correlated readings will tell you a great deal. No later than the first week of class, take a few hours to study the syllabus and thumb through all of the books. Get a sense of what each author is saying and what each book aims to do. Throughout the semester try to read ahead. Advanced planning and early effort inspire confidence.
Taking Lecture Notes –
How do you take good lecture notes? First, several issues in mechanics. It is important, from the outset, to think carefully about how you will use your notes. The immediate problem is to decide how they will be physically organized, probably in a notebook of some kind. There are good reasons for maintaining as much flexibility as possible, and a good candidate is a ring notebook. This allows flexibility if you want to add new material or re-organize existing notes. Bound notes (stapled, sewn) are fixed; you need freedom. Perhaps you have a better idea. Notebook computers, no doubt, provide what you need. But for the time being, laptops seem impractical for most students in daily lecture. If this is your choice the following principles still apply.
Practical Hints –
When you take lecture notes you should always put the current date at the top of a fresh page along with the lecture topic and outline (which your Instructor should provide). I also suggest you keep notes from your required reading (cf. infra, Reading Notes) next to the appropriate (correlated) lectures. This way everything is organized together in one place. Sound obvious? It is. The trick is to do it. To do this you need to establish a regular study schedule and disciplined study habits. Not complicated but easily forgotten (cf. infra, How to Study).
Theoretical Skinny –
The bottom line in taking notes is that you should always be thinking about what things mean. The final goal of the entire enterprise is to educate yourself. Keep this objective in mind and find ways to make it happen. Taking good notes is part of the process. Taking good notes is little more than a ritual for thinking, it underwrites and underscores moments of learning. And make no mistake on this point: No matter how talented you may be, learning requires repetition. Preparing; Being There; Listening; Writing Down A Thought; Re-Reading Your Notes; Preparing Again: This is the simple cycle we discuss below.
Attending a lecture is different from reading a book. You can return to a book and consult it at will. Lectures are a one-shot deal. There are, of course, similarities. Taking notes from your reading and taking lecture notes does not mean taking down every word–words, words, words. You are not a tape recorder or photocopy machine. Before you try to take notes of any kind forget the notion of a perfect verbatim record. The skinny here (detailed below) is this: Don’t listen to words, listen to meaning. But if this is a solution it also involves difficulties. The main problem with meaning is that it takes two. Your solution to the problem is to begin with your half of the equation. To be sure, if you have questions, ask. But this solution may only delay or actually avoid the problem. To bridge the ever-present gap that defines the human condition, it is prudent to learn to listen. That requires commitment and continued effort. The skill involves listening actively, critically, and sympathetically.
Active Listening –
Active listeners in a university lecture (just to start at the beginning) do not fall asleep, gaze out the window, or doodle in their notebooks. They attend (and attend to) the lecture. An active listener is continually asking questions. She asks herself: What is the purpose of this lecture? What are the assumptions? What is the main point? How is the lecture structured? What questions are being asked? What are the principal lines of argument leading to an answer? What kinds of evidence are there to support the major claims? Are the arguments and evidence persuasive? How does the main point of the lecture differ with the required readings or with what I believe? How can the different claims be compared and how is each defended? What subtleties attend the various interpretations? Is it more empty abstraction? A wonderful insight? What does this mean to me? Good questions. Active listeners run them over time and again.
The active listener, of course, wants to know what the lecturer is saying. And happily, the the listener is not alone. There are usually other listeners in addition to the speaker. No matter how ineffective, the speaker will always provide some direction. The trick is to identify the signs and how to interpret them. The clearest speaker will tell you in monosyllabic language: these are my assumptions, this is my purpose, here are my reasons for organizing the lecture as I have. But few speakers are so direct. If you are unclear about what is being said, it is possible the speaker is hopelessly muddled, unskilled, unprepared, or perhaps even insincere. But that doesn’t help you with your problem.
A simple solution is to ask questions. Many university lecturers begin class by asking for questions on the required reading and previous lectures, or for comments about something you might have been thinking about. Most lecturers encourage questions at the end or the talk, and some will accept questions during lecture if the timing is right. If you’re unclear about something it is usually smart to ask. Chances are, if you have a question other listeners do too. Everyone benefits from good questions (and as the cliché goes, even a bad question is good if someone learns from it). Finally, you should know that questions are useful to the speaker, they serve as a reality test, as a way to measure the audience and to gauge the pitch. Most university lecturers have worked hard to develop skills in communicating complex issues. Few are mind readers. If you have a question, help yourself, help your classmates, and help your Instructor by asking. At the end of the day questions keep the entire business afloat.
Critical Listening –
If you are listening actively you are constantly asking yourself questions. If you are listening critically, you are consistently asking yourself good questions. Asking intelligent questions involves preparation, hard work, and a concerted effort to become thoughtful. Most lectures have assigned readings for that day (correlated readings) which should be completed before you come to lecture. That makes sense. If you do the readings before lecture you will be better prepared to ask good questions. You and your Instructor have equal responsibilities in attempting to communicate. If you have come to class thoughtfully prepared you will have done your job by preparing a context and a set of expectations. Your next job is to play your expectations against the lecture. There may be some surprises. Attune yourself to possible differences of opinion.
Depending on the lecture, the differences between your readings and the lecture may appear to be slight or at best subtle. For the most part, what you read and what you hear will work together to reinforce a ‘Big Picture’ of some sort, a basic narrative and a certain line of argument. Parts of the story line from your reading will be repeated, underscored, and clarified. But chances are there will also be differences in emphasis if not of interpretation. If you listen actively you should hear different voices. If you listen critically you should hear a range of opinion, you should be offered a choice of interpretations that may vary widely in creativity and explanatory power.
A good lecture has strong bass notes, a pleasant middle range, and occasional high notes: it has the usual battery facts, a running narrative of events, and finally, a more subtle analysis of issues and interpretations. The most difficult part of the performance comes with the ‘high notes.’ It is difficult for everyone. For the Instructor, the ‘high notes’ are difficult to hit just right every time, and for the listener, the ‘high notes’ may seem subtle, strained, or difficult to appreciate, at least on first hearing. One thing is clear. This is probably the most important part to understand and most difficult to communicate.
Think for a moment about how knowledge works. Why would a university course aim at highlighting the obvious? Most of us have little difficulty grabbing on to chunky facts or remembering dramatic events. The best stuff is more subtle. Learning to listen critically means hearing the nuance, it asks that you discriminate and appreciate the subtle notes. Brilliant lectures are clear, powerful, elegant, and nuanced. But don’t be fooled. It may be bravado, academic conceit, empty abstraction. One thing is certain. You cannot judge for yourself unless you listen critically.
Sympathetic Listening-
In their classic essay Elements of Style the authors Strunk and White suggest that communication, even for the skilled reader, writer, or listener, is a very dicey affair, that in practice, most of us are in trouble about half the time. The skinny here is simple: Listening Actively and Listening Critically is not enough. We must also Listen Sympathetically. The important issue is that communication is not a fifty-fifty deal. There are, to be sure, strange market forces at work here. Most of us agree that we are all required, as a strict minimum, to go half-way when we communicate. But the Intellectual Economy presses this marketing principle to an extreme. And with good reason. We are all invited on a daily basis (whether in or out of academe) to carry the whole weight of conversation, to pay the entire freight. On its face this is not a good deal. But arguably — in the wider world of winners and losers — the competition has much to learn.
But why bother? That raises a larger question. Consider why we communicate. For one thing, we all know there may be something to gain. The chief difficulty here is that it is usually not clear how much we might gain. Given this uncertainty, we all learn early on to invoke various assumptions, we read signs and interpret clues. Much of this activity is rooted in social convention and personal courtesy. Most of us assume a speaker is making a good faith effort to communicate and speaks honestly. Most of us believe we can learn from anyone, if we make an honest effort.
The reasons for such beliefs are simple. One way to clarify the assumptions we make is to imagine reversing roles with the speaker. As an exercise about listening it is useful to imagine that you are doing the talking. Imagine you are the one giving the lectures. Now ask yourself what you would do. For example, how would you take into account the diversity of your audience? What would you assume your audience knew (for example, have they done the reading? Looked at the Study Guide? Are they chemistry majors or English majors?) What would you do if your audience was not prepared and you failed to communicate? You get the idea. Everyone is in trouble at least half the time if there is no sympathy. But sympathy sounds slightly silly. We need to press the abstraction into concrete parts.
Sympathetic Listener: The Skinny:
To listen sympathetically you must listen actively and critically, and further, you must listen to what the speaker means. The speaker’s words are less important than the speaker’s meaning. To deal with meaning you must venture beyond the half-way mark, you will have to expend extra personal effort. But this need not be a bad thing. One useful strategy is to view listening not as a social obligation but as a personal fitness program. Carrying the whole weight of a conversation can be good exercise. Forgive the comparison: Any lecture, good or bad, can help you stretch your creative range, develop your views, and bring sharper definition to your interpretive skills. It is like pumping iron in your own private weight room. Not least, if you stick with the program, there are no losers.
How does this work in practice? As the lecture begins, ask yourself: What is the best way to make sense of this? How would I do it? How could I make this lecture more clear and meaningful? When you reverse roles the task becomes clear. In your own mind you want to understand the assumptions, questions, and issues. As you work to make sense of things, you must formulate the strongest possible case to support the speaker’s claim. (You can imagine the same exercise with exam questions: If I were writing the final exam, what would I ask?) All of this presses the logic of the sympathetic listener. As a guide, consider the following.
- The Lecture Thesis Statement – Identify the lecturer’s Thesis. The thesis is the major point of the lecture, the main interpretive claim about the topic. The thesis should be up front and clear. If it is not up front you need to start worrying. Consider the possibilities. If the lecture is really bad the thesis may come at the end or not at all. Have fun with it. Come up with your best one-sentence Thesis Statement. If the lecture fits in a larger series (no doubt it does) there should be a context and collateral evidence to help you decide.
- Lecture Objectives – Identify the lecturer’s objectives. What is the topic, what ground will be covered? In history courses the objectives are usually defined by a standard cookie cutter, by the usual boundary-making mantra: Space, Time, Theme, Method. What geographical, chronological, topical area is covered? The lecturer should help place you on a map, situate you in time, and offer strong clues about the topic, themes, and method:
France, Paris; 17th Century, middle decades; Natural Philosophy (Science), planetary motion; Biography – Conceptual Analysis.
Or, elsewhere:
USA; 19th Century; Cultural History; Textual Analysis.
Or, elsewhere:
West Africa; 19th Century, middle decades; State Building, Slavery; Social History – Anthropology.
The objectives of the lecture may be difficult to separate from the main thesis. Objectives usually have to do with hopes of covering conceptual turf (topics, issues, interpretations) or a definable slice of stuff (ideas, individual, institutions) according to the mantra (space, time, theme). Develop skills in using categories to slice and dice your stuff. After you feel comfortable with the material avoid attempts to categorize except as first approximation. Instead, analyze how categories are used by focusing on how they often fail under scrutiny. Understand how and why we sort, categorize, rank, and make hierarchies. The relation of fact, theory, and value usually lurk in the interstices.
- Lecture Structure – Even if your lecturer is a silly person the lecture should have some sort of structure. Again, check the syllabus for the big picture. No doubt the lecture has a title and if the Instructor supplies an outline you may be in luck. If there is no outline it is up to you to listen sympathetically and distinguish the various parts of the presentation. Make an outline. What are the main points? How are the main points arranged? Chronologically? Topically? If things are as bad as we assume, you may have to wait until the lecture is over to sketch the outline. You should be able to ask questions. But chances are, if things are this bad, you will do better than the speaker and can offer several good organizational improvements. Again, an extreme case but a useful exercise.
In sum, the structure of a lecture (like the structure of a book or a university-level course) should tell the listener in fairly simple terms the Thesis and Objectives, and there should be a clear outline that links up the various topics, themes, and arguments. But because this does not always happen, it is always useful (good or bad) to imagine yourself improving the presentation. In the strict sense of ‘Sympathetic Listening’ there is no alternative. At Level Three Listening you are active, critical, and constantly questioning and re-organizing the possibilities. But remember not to give up on the speaker. Your main job is to find and follow the speaker’s map. Your second job is to interpret the speaker’s signposts. Your constant concern is to make it better. Multi-tasking.
- Lectures: Argument & Evidence – Any good lecture involves argument and evidence. This is what finally justifies the topic, the approach, the structure, and the conclusions. As always, keep an eye out for different kinds of evidence. Are textual sources quoted? Are there primary sources? Secondary sources? What kinds of arguments are used? Are they persuasive? What would make the argument stronger? Have certain kinds of evidence been overlooked? What could be added? Has the lecturer anticipated counter-arguments? Has the personality or style of the speaker affected the message?
But enough already. In the end, what do you really think? Was it a ‘good’ lecture? A ‘bad’ lecture? These questions are simple but not simplistic. At bottom, what is most important is that you know why you think what you think. Was the lecture superficial? Too deep? Clear but irrelevant? Substantial but unsatisfying? Brilliant but useless? Too many notes? Think about it. Would you really rather be doing something else? What would you do? On balance, what is the single most important thing you need to do right now?
So What? –
At the end of the day several practical things need to be done. You have a number of options. Some students recopy their lecture notes. This provides an opportunity to review and reorganize the material after taking time to think about the lecture. Some students re-copy their notes that night, others wait for the week-end. If you chose to re-copy (and it is an excellent idea) don’t wait too long. In reading them over you may see a connection you hadn’t considered.
Above all, if lecture notes are worth taking they are worth reviewing. No one, however gifted, learns without repetition. It is good practice to review your notes, beginning to end, each week. Ask yourself how individual lectures relate to one another and how they relate to the required reading. Take time to consider another question: What does this course have to do with me? It’s a serious question that warrants a serious response. As you review your notes each week take time to annotate them just as you would a book. You might consider keeping a separate diary or journal. Above all, remember these lecture notes are yours and they are perfectly useless unless you use them. Treat them with respect. Question them and work with them, read them actively, critically, and sympathetically. And as always, keep encouraged.